Stand Up Speak Out

April 5, 2012

STAND UP SPEAK OUT: (SUSO) is the advocacy arm of EMEAC. SUSO programs and activities advocate for environmental justice in Southeast Michigan through legislative policy initiatives while encouraging community involvement through our youth and adult education and training.

SUSO has recently worked in conjunction with other environmental justice organizations in Detroit to make pro-environmental policy changes like the Zero-Waste Detroit initiatives to eliminate tax payer subsidies for a major environmental polluters like the Detroit Incinerator. SUSO has also advocated for successful pro-environmental regulations like the anti-idling ordinance for commercial vehicles within the city limits of Detroit.

SUSO also conducts environmental education classes and training in select local schools for students in grades 6-12. SUSO also is conducting a youth leadership initiative aimed at young people ages 16-20 in the Detroit community.

YOUNG EDUCATORS ALLIANCE (YEA): The Young Educators Alliance is a small group of young adults (aged 14-24) who come together to identify issues in their environment and work collectively on solutions, using their creativity and personal insight. YEA advocates for healthy environments in Detroit in a way that fosters leadership and holistic development. Young people learn to identify injustices, place them in a historical context, and propose alternatives that involve community input, community organizing, and/or advocacy. The program aims to build a “pipeline for community activism” in which young people come to see themselves as community activists and learn to network and engage with existing communities of activists.